8th Grade Class Refuses to Take Photo with Paul Ryan: “don’t want to be associated with him”

Just about every kid jumps for joy to learn that their class is taking a school trip to another faraway location. It’s a once in a lifetime adventure enjoyed by millions of school age kids across the country. Most would jump at the chance to speak with a famous celebrity or politician. However, one youngster refused to take a photo opportunity with Speaker Paul Ryan because he did not wish to be associated with him. It appears kids today are more politically savvy than their parents were at the same age.

The eighth grader was on a school trip with students from South Orange Middle School in South Orange, New Jersey. The schools Washington D.C. trip took a strange turn, when the 8th grader did not wish to take part in the planned photo-op with Speaker Paul Ryan. Surprisingly, the eighth grader was joined by about a hundred of his classmates in his protest against Paul Ryan. This equaled about half of the total students on the Washington D.C. trip. They quietly remained across the street, while other students eagerly jumped at the chance to take a picture with the politician.

It appears that Paul Ryan is also very unpopular with school kids too. Matthew Malespina, 13, decided to text his Mother about the situation. He noted that his mom really hated the politician. Malespina also noted that his mom was perfectly alright with his response to the photo-op. However, she reminded him to remain respectful. Other students based their dislike of Ryan on his affiliation with Trump. They simply did not want to be included in a picture with a man that backed Trump.

Malespinal stated that he had very strong negative feelings toward Paul Ryan. However, he was actually shocked that half the students on the Washington D.C. school trip held the same negative feelings about Ryan and refused the photo opportunity. A lot of the negative feelings against Paul Ryan are also based on Trump and the Republican parties lack of support for public education along with the massive changes to health care, just to name a few.

Of course, Paul Ryan is the 3rd most powerful man in the country. Still, it did not matter to the visiting 8th graders. The middle schoolers remained strong in their opposition to Paul Ryan and took their own political stand.